This article seeks to develop an empirically grounded theorization of care. Current care theory tends to be conceived along philosophical, psychological and labour dimensions, with much of the literature focusing on caring labour and, therefore, invoking a productionist orientation.

By contrast, our focus on consumption suggests a reorientation in conceptualizing care to more fully apprehend the nuances of care neglected in a consumption context.… >> continue reading

Alternative markets are often described as exchange systems for people who wish to escape the capitalist markets.

In this article, we argue that alternative markets may also emerge in a context of economic constraint, in which people have restricted access to mainstream markets. In order to survive, they have to find alternative ways of obtaining goods and services.

To understand the emergence and characteristics of the constrained type of alternative market, we examine the bartering systems established in Greece in the aftermath of the financial crisis and the imposition of austerity measures by international and European institutions on the country’s economic system.… >> continue reading

Anthony Beudaert, Nil Özçağlar-Toulouse, MeltemTüreb (2016). Published in Journal of Business Research Volume 69, Issue 1, January 2016, Pages 57-64.

Based on Van Gennep’s framework of rites of passage, this research examines the self-transformation process of consumers who acquire a sensory disability. The analysis of 15 in-depth interviews reveals a complex three-stage process. With the onset of disability, individuals experience a forced withdrawal from their consumption activities. This withdrawal gives way to liminality of undetermined duration, nurtured by consumers’ memories of the past, sufferings in the present, and fears of the future.… >> continue reading

The goal in this research is to offer a new interpretation of activism by focusing not on the various ideologies but on the order of worth that coordinates activism.

Methodology/approach

Ethnographic approaches of participant observation and nondirective interviewing were the methods used in this study.

Findings

Drawing on the order models (Boltanski & Thévenot, 1991), the authors introduce the existence of an “activist order.” This order is composed of rules that coordinate activists’ practices.… >> continue reading

This paper offers a critical comparison between the work of various researchers about the French-speaking « bien-être du consommateur » with the literature on Transformative Consumer Research which focuses on the concept of well-being. First, we propose a synthesis of the two perspectives and their main themes. Second, we question the cultural background of each research approach.… >> continue reading

Based on Latour’s view that humans and non-humans swap properties, this paper explores whether objects embody similar properties as human beings and whether these properties per se orient dispossession practices. The study adopts Latour’s pragmatogonies as a theoretical perspective to explore the complex interplay between humans and non-humans in the context of dispossession.… >> continue reading

This article introduces the concept of sufficiency, its specific dual nature (voluntary and obliged), and its collective implications to the literature on sustainability. Sufficiency implies a reorganization of consumption priorities and is introduced by a discussion of consumerism and the dominant social paradigm. Long interviews with sufficient people show the complexity of the construct, which creates semantic oppositions around the notion of having (everything vs.… >> continue reading

This article reflects on consumer representations of a typical southern Mediterranean dish that has remained a centerpiece of cultural encounters ever since it was developed in North Africa: couscous. France—a country whose own cuisine is world-renowned, yet which regularly ranks couscous as one of its top three favourite national dishes, and which hosts the largest North African population in Europe—seemed a fertile site for an investigation of the polysemic meanings attached to couscous, a nomad product embedded in socio-historical interrelationships on both shores of the Mediterranean.… >> continue reading

Consumption experiences of French poor people: knowledge from the Bottom of Pyramid and the Transformative Consumer Research

This article puts into perspective the challenges of the two existing approaches on poverty: the Bottom of Pyramid and the Transformative Consumer Research. To do so, we explore the experiences of French poor people, a recent category of consumers in marketing.… >> continue reading